Memory Palace
by Habeous Corpus
Summary: This story explains the "long story" of Jane's past in the carnival. Btw, there will be no Jace except in Chapter 4. Thanks!
1. Chapter 1

**No matter how many stars I wish on, I will never own the rights to "The Mentalist." **_**Damn.**_

**A/N- This is a look into Jane's past. I thought of this when I watched the 'memory palace' scene. He tells Lisbon "It's a long story." Well, here's the long story.**

**Because of the nature of this story, present day is in **_**italics, **_**and the past is in regular text. This picks up right after the "It's a long story" line.**

**Memory Palace**

"_Well, we have time for it! We're in a dive of a restaurant, drinking cheap beer. Spill," Lisbon told him._

"_Okay. My mom divorced my dad when I was four, and he got custody of me. He wanted to escape the small town we lived in and return to his past and occupation. He was a Roma, and so am I. Of course, I came along for the ride."_

Patrick looked around him. Daddy had taken him here to Omaha because he wanted to get a job. The fairgrounds were a crazy place, with people and lights and music. They came to a stop in front of a trailer.

"Stay here, Patrick." He went inside, and Patrick could hear two men's voices.

"Well, who's this?" A lady in bright clothes and a headscarf was looking at him. Patrick thought that she looked a little funny.

"Are you playing dress up? My sisters do that too."

The lady laughed. "You could call it dress up. I'm a fortuneteller. What are you doing here?"

"My daddy's trying to get a job."

"Oh, okay. Is he inside?" Patrick nodded. "What job is he trying to get?"

"He wants to be… I forget."

"Does he want to be a performer?"

"Yeah! That's what he told me." Patrick's father came out of the trailer.

"Hey, I got the job," he told Patrick.

"Congratulations!" the lady told him.

"Who are you?"

"Your new colleague."

"_What was your dad performing?" Van Pelt asked. _

"_He was a hypnotist. Taught me everything I know about it, too."_

"_Great. There's another one of you running around here," Cho remarked. _

"_Yeah, just older and more experienced," Rigsby added._

"_Anyway, I fit in very well with the rest of the troupe. I learned many things from them all."_

"Hey, Patrick!"

"Yeah, Mandy?"

"I have a break from the whole fortunetelling thing. Do you want to continue your lessons?"

"Sure."

"_Mandy taught me how to read people. It was part of her job as a convincing fortuneteller. Soon, I had my own show going on, with all the tricks I learned from her. I didn't replace her, because my act was half-magic, half-comedy, and half-cold reading."_

"_So it was one and a half acts?" Lisbon giggled. The whole table erupted. _

_Jane just stared her down with a smile._

"Hey you! Yeah, you. Come here. You look pretty fun!" The man Patrick was calling looked somewhat skeptical. Here was this teenager in a black half-cape with a top hat and falcon-head cane beckoning him. "I guess you aren't taking me seriously, eh? We can fix that."

"Oh, really?" The man had a swagger in his posture that screamed arrogance.

"Yes, really." Patrick whipped a bouquet of flowers out of his top hat. "Try giving these to your girlfriend. Or your wife, if she finds out about the girlfriend." The onlookers laughed, but the man looked thoroughly incensed. "Oops, found someone's dirty little secret." He didn't have time to finish rubbing salt in the wound, though, because the man took a lunge at him. In a flash, Patrick had a switchblade out and pointed at him. "Wouldn't do that. The nearest hospital is a bit of a drive."

"_Then what happened?" Van Pelt asked._

"_He lunged, and he also spent the night recovering from a slash wound at the nearest hospital."_

"_Damn, Jane! You're a badass!" Rigsby exclaimed._

"_I got nicer. I also got smarter."_

"What the hell were you thinking?" Madge screamed.

"That I had myself the perfect target."

"Your father?! The perfect target. Really. You thought he'd let you get away with hypnotizing him?"

"Yeah. And could you quit yelling? I have a killer headache."

"Talk to that father of yours. He caused it."

"Sure. He caused it like I built the Brooklyn Bridge."

"He told me he did. You don't really have a headache; you just think you do. That is why you shouldn't have messed with him!"

Patrick sighed.

"I guess I should apologize, shouldn't I?"

"Yeah."

"_He ended up teaching me how to do things that many don't even know exists. By the time I was eighteen, I was even better than he was. I was also being challenged by every hypnotist within a five-mile radius."_

"You Jane's kid?"

"Yeah. Let me guess: you want to challenge me to a battle of wits. Don't try it." Patrick went back to setting up. They opened in six hours, so they were working double-time.

"And why shouldn't I try it?" This woman was just getting annoying.

"Look, ma'm. I'm strong." With that, he pulled out a pendant that was hanging around his neck. "I earned that a while ago. Go ahead. Make my day."

"_She ended up kicking my butt. I was dazed, confused, and crazy as hell until she brought me out of the trance."_

"_Wow. Someone actually ended up beating the great Patrick Jane," Lisbon teased._

"_Don't make me."_

"_Don't make you do what_?"

"_Think about it." Just then the waitress came over. _

"_We're closin' up for the night."_

"_You never finished your story, Jane."_

"_Tell, you what. If we ever come back here, I'll finish."_

"_All right. Well, it was fun playing dress up," Lisbon replied, putting her emeralds on the table._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N—I deleted stuff on my little flash thingy a few days ago by accident. One of said items was this chapter. (#%#!!!!!) I managed to retrieve most of the stuff, but I have to start this over. (#%$^&!) Turns out, stuff deleted off "removable media" doesn't go to the recycle bin. It's GONE! (Word to the wise, there.)**

**I wasn't going to do this, but you guys requested, and I am obliging. :D**

**Chapter Two**

"_We're incredible!" Jane said as they walked back to the cruiser._

_Cho sighed. "I'll bite. Why are we incredible?"_

"_Because it's only one in the afternoon, and we already solved the case." There was a pause. "So what do we do with the rest of this fine day?"_

"_Paperwork. Which, of course, you do not do," Lisbon told him tartly. _

_Jane looked as if someone had just kicked his dog. "Well, I can help…"_

"_No, it's not part of your job," Cho told him. _

_Lisbon laughed. "Of course you'd take his side." _

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_Four hours later, and the Special Cases Unit were completely finished with the paperwork. Of course, the secretary was now laden with work, but that's a different story. _

"_Are you all done?" Jane asked. _

"_Yeah. How'd you know that?" Van Pelt asked. _

"_How do I know anything?" he responded. Van Pelt just smiled. "The reason why I wanted know if you were done," he continued, "was because I wanted to treat you all out to dinner instead of the pizza."_

"_Why?" asked Lisbon, who had been standing at the door. _

_Jane looked at her. "Are you really questioning a free dinner?" Lisbon rolled her eyes and went to get her coat._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_As they were driving on the freeway, Jane started to get curious. "Where are we going?"_

"_To that little dive we went to one time. Remember that?" Rigsby told him. _

"_Wasn't that in Nevada?"_

"_Yeah, but it was right over the line. Not very far, so we're okay. Besides, no other place has a promise attached to it," Lisbon said with a smile. _

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

_The five agents packed into a booth in the back of the restaurant. As they waited for the waitress, Jane was stalling: "Well, I have no idea where to begin. There's so much to tell, I guess."_

"_The craziest thing you ever did," Cho prompted._

"You get back here, you little twerp!" the man screamed. Patrick didn't respond, he just ran. Even though he was innocent.

"_For once," Rigsby snorted. _

He really was innocent. A man at the carnival had lost his wallet, and somehow he thought Patrick stole it. But he didn't. So, anyway, Patrick was running as fast as he could. However, it wasn't fast enough; the man was gaining on him. Then he looked up: the Ferris wheel! He had climbed it before for routine maintenance, and his pursuer couldn't reach that high. He summoned the rest of his stamina and latched on to the side of the wheel. He began to climb to the top. He paused to rest, and realized that the wheel was moving underneath him! The operator hadn't seen him. Not only that, but he was about to be pinched between the wheel and its support structure. He was transfixed for a moment by fear; then he began scrabbling the opposite way to safety. As his lungs were about to give up, he felt the wheel lurch to a stop. Exhaustion was taking over his small frame. Remember, he was only 10 at the time. Then someone called to him from the ground.

"Jump! We've got you!"

"_Are you sure you aren't making this up?" Van Pelt asked. _

Anyway, Patrick didn't really want to jump, but his arms were shaking, and the cold night air was making early hypothermia set in. So, he fell.

"_And then?" _

"_I don't remember." Groans erupted from the table. "Hey, now. I can tell you the aftermath. I broke two ribs, but I would have died if it wasn't for Tom."_

"_Who was Tom?"_

Tom was Patrick's guardian angel. He stood only 4 metres, but his heart was the largest of them all. He did set design, and trapeze. He taught Patrick to be safe, always. That included self-defense. Knife fighting, blending in, escaping crowds, the whole bit. Anyway, Tom caught Patrick. How he did it is something that men will never know. The reason he broke the ribs is because Tom dropped him. Thankfully, he absorbed most of the momentum, so Patrick was mainly all right.

"_You know how to knife fight?" Cho asked incredulously. _

"_Yeah. How do you think I saved my skin all these years?"_

"_I have no idea." _

Tom sighed. "Pat, you're gonna get yourself killed one of these days."

"Why?"

"Because, I could go like this," he grabbed Patrick's wrist and rotated it, "and then go like this," he brought the arm up over Patrick's head, "and bide my time." After a few seconds, Patrick's arm went numb, and he dropped the prop knife.

"Aggh! How do you do that?"

"Practice, and thinking, both of which you lack."

"_I can beat anyone in a knife fight any day of the week."_

"_Humble as always, huh, Jane?" Rigsby chuckled._

_Jane smiled. "Anyway, enough about me. How about you guys?"_

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Okay, more chapters on the way! (I am purposely **_**not **_**deleting anything off my drive from now on! :P )**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n—Okie Dokey, switching gears now. (Anyone remember in **_**Blood Brothers**_** with Cho's juvie hall escapade? I do! I also remember it wasn't explained. :-/ )**

**Chapter Three**

"_What do you mean, 'how about us?'" Cho asked warily. _

"_Thanks for volunteering! Spill," Jane commanded._

_Rigsby decided to put his two cents in. "Yeah, Mr. Juvie Hall. You said you'd tell us some time."_

"_All right. I was put in juvie for assaulting an officer."_

_There was an awkward silence around the table. Finally, Van Pelt spoke up. "There's _got_ to be a story behind that."_

Kimball usually walked home from school. However, today he had a little money and he was taking the bus. He didn't live in the nicest of neighborhoods, but it was better than some. As he got off the bus, a gang confronted. For some reason, being Korean was undesirable. It was strange, but ignorance can be illogical. Anyway, they tried to rough him up, and he fought back. He was losing until a policeman came to break up the fight. Unfortunately, the policeman was of the same school of thought as the gang. The officer blamed Kimball for the fight, and tried to bring him in. Cho fought back, being the unruly kid he was, slugged him.

"_Whoops. And what happened after that?" Lisbon asked._

"_I went to Juvie."_

"_We established that. What happened in Juvie?" Jane prompted. _

"_Nothing, really. It was just your basic imprisonment stuff. No one messed with me because of my rap."_

"_Oh, okay. That's pretty boring," Jane pouted. _

"_And we go in a clockwise direction to Van Pelt," Cho smoothly directed. _

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N—okay, Stars of Awesomeness are in order. Madaboutthementalist caught an embarrassing mistake in chapter three. [*] And SpaceAnj inspired me for this chapter, when I had absolutely no- frickin'- idea. [*] Jace is on the horizon, people! (Word to the wise: this chapter contains [mild] sexual abuse. If you can't handle it maturely, then don't read.)**

**Chapter Four**

_Van Pelt nearly choked on her shot of whisky. "Me? But I…"_

"_Yes, you. Don't worry, we're family here," Rigsby said. _

_Lisbon couldn't resist. "We say that because we annoy each other like only family can!" Laughter erupted from the table again. _

"_All right, I'll tell a story." She downed her glass for a shot of Dutch courage. _

The Van Pelt family had three children: Thomas, Gerald, and Grace. Grace was the oldest, and the football prodigy. Their parents raised them to have a proactive attitude about everything. Grace also had a cat named Joy. When Joy started balding from old age, her little brothers (who were four and six at the time) tried to help. They shaved their own hair and stuck it on the cat with sticky tape. So, poor Joy had tri-colored fur. Their mother had to take the boys to the hairdresser, and Grace had to peel tape and hair off the cat.

"_I thought the kids were supposed to shave the cat," Cho quipped. _

"_Well, our family is by no means normal," Van Pelt retorted. _

"_Okay, I'll have to stop you there," Lisbon told her. "Your family has nothing on Jane's family!" _

"_And that's funny because it's true," he added._

"_Well, I have another story. Sshh!" _

Grace prepared herself for the impact. "Arrggh!" she screamed. As she picked herself up, the coach ran over with a tape measurer.

"Nice job. You moved that bag about 4 feet with one tackle. All right, people! Running drills!" There was a groan from the football team, but Grace smiled to herself. This was her strength, and their weakness.

As usual, she excelled, and all the first-string players were practically worshipping the ground she walked on by the time practice was over. As she took off her helmet and shook out her red hair, that attitude changed.

"You're a girl?"

"Go home and play with your dolls!"

"Save me a seat at the tea party!" After each quip, there was riotous laughter.

"You little…!"

"_What did you do?" Rigsby asked. He was hanging on her every word._

"_I beat them up. I had to get stitches, but they never messed with me again!" _

_Everybody started cracking up._

_The waiter came over and slapped a check on the table. "Out." He turned and left. _

"_Boy, he's rude," Van Pelt said._

"_Not rude, in ESL. He doesn't speak English too well," Jane clarified as he got up and stretched. _

_The friends bid goodbye to each other and went to their cars. However, when Jane got to his Citroen, he found someone there waiting for him. "Uh… Can I help you, Van Pelt?"_

"_Remember when you said I had a tragedy in my past? Well…" She crossed her arms and blushed. "I don't know why I'm even talking about this. With you!"_

"_Do what you want, Grace. I won't judge." His voice was calm, and it made her feel safe…_

Grace loved to walk around her neighborhood in the summer with her friends. A few ice cold sodas from the corner store completed the afternoon. Usually, they'd walk to the playground, spend some time there, head towards the big toy store display, and then go to visit the nice lady at the end of Lizzie's street. There, they'd have tea and scones. The neighborhood was small, and everybody knew each other. Well, almost everybody. There was a man on Carol's street that everybody thought was creepy. He stayed inside all day, and never spoke to anybody. All the children were told to hurry past his house and not to go near it.

One day, the group of girls was walking as they usually did, but they weren't alone. They started to get restless, but they attributed that to getting close to the Strange Man's house. A stranger on a bicycle was following them. He quietly disembarked a few yards away, and snuck up on the group. He grabbed the girl at the back, which was Grace. Then panic broke out. The girls ran screaming, while Grace kicked with her strong legs. She broke free and ran for a short distance, but she tripped and hit her head. Her pursuer lifted her and headed to the Strange Man's backyard. He pulled at her clothes, trying to take them off, but Grace struggled. She landed a few good kicks, but she was no match for him. He managed to get her skirt off, and Grace started screaming. All of a sudden, there was a loud crack. She looked up at her attacker, and he had a large red stain on the front of his shirt. He fell to the ground, and Grace saw a man in a wheelchair with a rifle behind him. He was at the back door of the house. He said one thing to her right before she passed out. "Nice kicking, little lady."

_Van Pelt took a deep breath. "I had a concussion and a fractured ankle. You see, that's why Rigsby's affection freaks me out a little. I—_"

"_Had a lot of emotional damage too," he finished. He gave her a little squeeze. Van Pelt looked down and realized that when she had been telling her story, Jane had put his arm around her waist so that they were in a side embrace._

"_You little bugger," she laughed._

"_I get that a lot. Good night."_

"_Good night. Thank you."_

"_Okay, that I don't get quite as often. For what?"_

"_Listening." She turned and walked off to her car. _

_Sometimes, listening is the best gift you can give someone._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**Okay, I just realized that I am typing in the present way too much. Meh. Please review so I can feel the love! **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N—As of right now, I only had one reviewer for last chapter. Not really feelin' the love. At all. So, I am not a happy camper. :( Just sayin'.**

**Chapter Five**

"_Wait, why do we have to stay here?" Rigsby asked, slightly confused._

"_Because they might need backup," Cho answered. The Special Cases unit was on-call at 10:00 pm in their bullpen because the Organized Crime Unit was pulling off a delicate operation. _

_Jane snorted. "Might? Those idiots couldn't pour piss out of a boot if the instructions were printed on the heel. We're here in case they screw up." _

_Lisbon spoke up from the kitchen. "I think we should give them a chance. They might do it right."_

"_Didn't you call them cowboys when I tried to help them?" Jane called back. There was no reply._

_Cho broke the silence when Lisbon came back. "You know, Lisbon and Rigsby are the only that haven't told a story."_

_Lisbon thought about this for a second. "It would be a good way to pass the time. Rigsby will go first."_

"_Why do I have to go first?" He looked like a deer in headlights. _

"_Because I'm the boss."_

"_All right. Ah, what should I say?"_

"_How about one of your arson cases? There must be some good stories there," Van Pelt recommended. _

"_Well, okay." _

This was Wayne's first case. Someone had been receiving arson threats in the mail, on their phone, and then their car was torched, along with part of their garage. The fire was contained before it reached the west side of the garage. So, the local LEOs were called in. Officer Rigsby was with his veteran partner, Sergeant Neosho. There were traces of accelerants at the scene. Well, "traces" was an understatement. The place _reeked_. Anyway, Neosho was a chain smoker. Always has been, always will be. He lit a cigarette and started to walk around the crime scene. Now, Neosho wasn't an idiot, he just slipped up. Usually he had a small ashtray to prevent crime scene contamination. However, he inhaled a bit of ash, sneezed, and spilled glowing ashes on the ground. All of a sudden, the place goes up like a candle. Officer Rigsby had to grab the Sergeant, and haul out of there. They both ended up with torched clothes, and singed eyebrows.

"_I bet they never let him forget that," Jane quipped. _

"_No, they didn't. I also got a commendation."_

"_Nice. Did they give you a little laminated plaque, too?"_

"_Shut up, Cho."_

_Before they could jab at each other any ore, the phone rang. The team prepared to mobilize while Lisbon answered. "Yeah. Okay, umm… All right. You too." She placed the handset back in its cradle. "They don't need us. The Organized Crime cowboys pulled it off." There were cheers from the agents. "Now, go home. If you aren't here tomorrow, Minelli will have a fit." _

_As Jane left, he gave Lisbon a "you're next" look. _

_Someday, she was going to kill that man. Or kiss him._

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N—Okay, last chapter. *yayers!***

**Chapter 6**

_A month had gone by since that night in the bullpen, and Lisbon thought she was safe from Jane's prying. Until there was a slow day at the office and Lisbon decided to go and spend some time with her team. She wouldn't admit it, but she was extremely close to them. Even to Jane. As she walked in, there was a snort from Jane. "I told you. When will you not doubt?" _

_Lisbon _almost _ran out of the room. She wanted to relax, not be wound up. Then she remembered that she was the boss. She can't let that (adorable) pipsqueak under her skin._

_Van Pelt took a deep breath. "Are you going to share a few secrets?" she asked, with a glance at Jane.  
_

_Lisbon weighed over her options. If she did, she could pick what she said. If she left it up to Jane's pestering, he would ask questions. Not only that, but when he asked questions, it was better to hide. _

"_Yeah."_

_Rigsby groaned, and slapped a twenty in Jane's palm. _

Theresa was a happy girl. She had a mother, she had a… father. She also had three older brothers. This made dating very interesting in high school, thank you very much. One time, her first beau came to her home to serenade her. Theresa thought it was sweet, but her brothers dragged him inside, tied him to a chair, and interrogated him. Ironically, Theresa became the police officer. Anyway, she broke up with that boyfriend. Afterwards, she looked for the man with the most compatibility to her brothers. Marty Sheen. The brothers loved him, and they became fast friends. However, he drove Theresa up the wall, so they separated. Finally, she realized that dating was overrated. (Much to her brothers' relief.)

_Lisbon got up from her perch on Van Pelt's desk to go get a soda. After she left, Cho and Rigsby started whispering. After a few seconds, they broke apart. _

_Rigsby started. "I'm Lisbon and he's you," he said to Jane. He went on, "I think dating's stupid."_

_Cho immediately replied, "Aw, _crap_!"_

_Van Pelt burst out into peals of laughter. Lisbon walked into the room, soda in hand. "What did I miss?"_

_Without missing a beat, Jane replied, "Rigsby and Cho making fun of us." Lisbon just rolled her eyes and went to her office. Jane fell into lock step with her._

"_Where are you going?" Rigsby asked._

"_With Lisbon, because she's the only one not being cruel to me."_

_Van Pelt let out a small harrumph. "I didn't do anything!" she called to him._

"_You laughed!" was her only reply._

_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx_

"_Touch anything and you die," Lisbon told Jane absently while sitting down. Jane just took a seat in front of her desk and stared. _

_And stared._

_And stared… Until Lisbon cracked. "What do you _want_, Jane?"_

"_Hmm… I could think of a few things. Give me a minute…"_

"_What do you want with _me_?"_

"_Why did you hesitate when you spoke of your father?"_

Donald Lisbon was a drunk. Plain and simple. However, that wasn't the worst part. He almost killed his five children while being said drunk. After a few drinks, he decided to go somewhere. The children were told to get in the car. Theresa was 15, and her brothers were younger than her. She tried to fight her father, but he overpowered her. He knocked her out, and threw her into the car. She woke up later, in the back seat with four very scared boys around her. They were weaving all over the road, and Theresa was scared for her life. She climbed up to the front seat, and tried to wrestle the wheel from her father. They narrowly missed an oncoming car, and scraped along a barrier. However, they were not so lucky with the next drunken jerk of the wheel. They rammed a compact car, and pushed it off the road, into a pole. Theresa was not hurt badly, because she was hanging onto the wheel, and the passenger side airbags went off. In fact, all the Lisbons were fine. This wasn't true for the other driver. She was pronounced dead on the scene. Theresa's father was arrested for vehicular homicide and child abuse/endangerment. While in jail, he committed suicide. Therefore, Theresa was left without parents at the age of 15. The kids were shuttled to various foster homes, and split apart. Over the years, they drifted apart.

"_And now I'm basically without a family."_

_Jane just got up and walked around the desk. "I know how that feels," he told her while brushing away a stray tear. Lisbon hadn't even realized that she was crying. Jane wrapped his arms around her, and hoped that she didn't hit him. She didn't, so he found no reason to move._

_Patrick Jane had a sudden thought. This whole thing started with money. He fought a chuckle. Who says money isn't happiness? _


End file.
